Can the Reit IPO market rev up to help investors build retirement savings?

THE drought in the initial public offering (IPO) of real estate investment trusts (Reits) on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) through the later part of 2020 and into much of 2021 ended with the successful listings of Daiwa House Logistics Trust (DHLT) and Digital Core Reit (DC Reit) towards the end of 2021. The former owns logistics assets in Japan, while the latter owns data centres in the United States (US) and Canada.

DHLT and DC Reit follow many newer Reits that are listed here, by focusing on overseas assets. Compared with their IPO prices, DHLT and DC Reit traded flat and up 32 per cent respectively as at end-2021.

The trading performance of DC Reit contrasts with the fortunes of overseas-centric Reits that made their trading debuts in 2019 or 2020 such as United Kingdom-focused Elite Commercial Reit, US-focused United Hampshire US Reit and US-focused Prime US Reit - all of which traded below their IPO prices as at end-2021.